Exhaustion...

This is me today...

photo source


And yesterday...

And the day before...

And most days...

I've said before I have fatigue issues.

There's not much I can do about it medically right now while we're here.

I'm tired on a regular basis.  It's very frustrating.  It's very lonely.  It's VERY annoying to me as well to those around me.

But I'm especially tired after a toddler who woke up two nights in a row having wet the bed...

Oh and he still wears a diaper and not it doesn't bother me that he's not potty trained yet...just sayin'.

But that's not why I'm writing this.

I want to know what brings you out of a tired funk?  How do you cope on the days that you're dragging your feet.?   My whole world is affected when I'm THIS tired.  Weather really can make it worse and it's a wee gloomy today.

I just woke up from a 2 hour nap.  And I do feel better.  But as I go to get ready for work you want to be up and att'em and ready to make my night go good and fast.  And then I think...man I just wanted to be up and att'em all day today too. 

So what do you do on the days that are hard?

Keeping in mind people...that I've quit sweets. 

The magic chocolate man can't help me now!!

So much...

I have so much on my mind lately.  And at times it can consume me. 


As I've mentioned we have an upcoming move this summer.  And nothing is for certain to where we are going so I have no details for you.  It's sort of wild.  To not really know where you're moving until three months before you do.

There's a lot of mixed emotions when it comes to moving.  I mean we're bloody excited of course.  New place, new things to do, a walmart...I mean the little things.  It's scary because we'll be buying our first house and back on a super strict budget.  Going from hardly any living expenses back to paying tons of bills, a mortgage, gas for a car and anything and everything in between.  I'm nervous.  I'm not gonna lie.

And of course there's actually a LOT that we'll miss here.  We have fabulous friends...for reals I have a fairly good social life when we all get together.  Hot Husband (and I) have a two minute walking commute to work.  There's bonfires, girls nights, (and UFC nights) and my neighbors (two in particular) that always cook such good stuff.  There's also TWO babies that are finally born and we'll be back up here with us this weekend.  (I'm a wee bit excited for babies to come here)

And of course this....

{Yes that is me demonstrating "Kristi Fierce" just yesterday when it was warm enough to sport Hot Husband's hoodie}

And the nice thing about here is the landscaping totally reminds us of home.


But at the same time I think we're ready.  We're ready to close this chapter, get back to church, and the Dollarama.  The two most important things in life.  Naturally.

With this buzzing of emotions that are in my head it makes me want to spring clean.  Decide what goes to garage sale...what to keep.  It's a hard balance between holding on to stuff that you don't need or want to replace and being wasteful.  It's actually driving me nuts!  I'm having a hard time.  There's things that I have that I thought for sure this time last year I'd want to sell....now I'm thinking..crap I'm going to have a mortgage...maybe I don't need to buy and bigger, shinier brand new version.

Would anyone like to come inside my head and beat the crap out of my running thoughts.

Umm thanks.


And then there's cute kid.

Oh how he'll miss driving himself around on a quad.

Okay he doesn't do that but the kid goes on a quad ride every single day no matter how cold it is.  He loves his routines of quad ride, seeing the planes take off and looking at the trucks.

But he needs friends.

Wanna know how I know?

Because sometimes he watches YouTube videos and he thinks the kids are really there playing with him.

"KID......KID....play trains???????"

That's a "no word of a lie" truth.

So anyway...no reasoning to this post.  Nothing but my random thoughts scared to buy a house and be tight again and my CONSTANT quest for balance!

LIKE random thought 598 - - how can I make myself LIKE cleaning my house??  I mean if I could just get over the fact that it needs to be done and do it...it really wouldn't take much time.

Which brings me to another thought.  I saw this home organizing journal on Passionate Homemaking and I think it's super awesome.  However WAY too overwhelming for me.  What do you guys do to keep up with keeping a home so that you're not spending all your free time doing housework???  I know I'm working and it'll HOPEFULLY get better when I stop again but really like my SIL says..


"It will take you the amount of time you allot for it.  So if you give yourself all day to do the dishes it will take you the whole day to do the dishes" 

 
Okay so that's not word for word but you get my drift.

Does this happen to any of you??

See I told you I had a lot of junk on my mind!

Okay I'm done.  This is what happens when I don't post for a few days.

Here's some more journal pages that I did. 

Wait? 

Are you sick of me showing these?

{Like you're gonna tell me if you are.}

Be Still My Heart


I dedicated this one to Hot Husband and took the lyrics from HSM3 because I was watching while I was making this and it just worked.


Wishes


This one I just had fun braiding the fabric and attaching it and thinking of the things I wish for in life.


PS-If you're wondering about today's PEEK I've decided to spread them out to every other week. That way I can do more of my own posts and make sure my PEEK participants get maximum exposure. Coolio? Good. Great. Grand.

On this night...

I am in love with and can't watch enough of this girl...

Am so thankful and also in love with this Bed Head Wipe Out concealer.  Because it's like an eraser AND it covers my NAST zit.

{NAST -- I just made that up right here and now and you just got to witness it.  Lucky you.}

On this night I am thinking about this something huge coming in the near future...

Oh and I finished this last night...I'm officially addicted.

Sewn fabric and a button on paper.  It's blissful in itself.

Stole the quote from Vivianna's page...but it's just so nice.

And bliss for me is "a place where my mind is quiet and all I feel is love."

What's going on with you on this night?

From my journal...

I'm loving my Quiet Nights Journal class.  I haven't done much because I didn't have the supplies but some are starting to trickle in and so I finally got started.

Here's the cover.

I bought a 9x12 Ecojot Sketchbook which has a blank cover.  I then found this cute little print that came with my order that I got from PEEK participant Jessica Rose at Vol.25 and I thought it just fit perfect.  So I covered this journal with plain dark chocolate scrapbook paper and just wrapped it around.  I should have taken a photo of the inside but I'm just too darn lazy to right now.   I glued the paper down then, the print and then taped the edge with my new masking tape from Happy Tape.  And now I'm beyond addicted to the stuff and am decided on my next masking tape purchase.   Hot Husband....just look the other way.



I put "For all those Quite Nights" off centered on purpose.

Okay not on purpose...but I tried to make it look like I did when in reality I just sorta messed up a bit.

And the card says "Write it in your heart that every day is the best day of the year."

PERFECT!

The first page inside says.....


Lucky for you I'm letting you in on the in. 

Oh yeah I meant to say in on the in. 

I'm cool junk like that.

I used part of a kit that I got from Red Velvet Art which was a cut out of a Polaroid.   And I was inspired to doodle the edging by this cute lady's post. (Hi Johanna!)

Next is my first entry.

Escape.  I love using the masking tape (of course -- addicted) and I had fun stitching through the paper.  And layers is my thing.  I love layers in photoshop, I love layers with my clothes and jewlery,  naturally I'm diggin' the texture of layers in my art journal. Oh and I think I found the photo at Kind Over Matter.  It was in my "inspiration" folder I keep on my computer.

It says...

I'd like to escape to a place where dreams are big and always ALWAYS come true.


I'd like to escape to a place where you are always allowed to be who you are.


I'd like to escape a mind that limits and betrays me.  That holds me back and that makes me feel crazy.  That stops me from making the LEAP.  I'd like to escape...


Escape with me.

These words totally come from a personal place.  I find my mind hard to escape sometimes.  I find peoples words (even if not meant to judge or hurt) hard to escape.  I find the past memories which I'd like to hide away....hard to escape.

What do you think of when you think of the word escape?

I bloody love this class.   I feel like I'm creating a little book of art.

And because I'm a Mom...

Must throw a random photo in...

Holy CUTE KID who looks like he's going to school with his backpack, vest and toque on!

Holy crap I'd like to kiss the crap out of him!

Oh wait I do that already!

I'll keep you posted on my journal entries.

I love this!

Yes I said that already.

But I'm escaping to a place where I can be me.

Me - I repeat junk.

xo

PEEK with Nikki

my name is nikki. you can read my blog here.
this is me and my sweet husband.

our nielsen family was established april twenty sixth, two thousand eight in sunny san diego, california. four months ago, we kissed our "table for two" life goodbye and welcomed our sweet little girl Emmerson Claire into the world.

we like her. i think we'll keep her.

for my PEEK, i wanted to focus on something that really truly represented me, and so i thought i'd give you a PEEK: inside the sweet life...my candy bag. let me start by explaining how completely obsessed i am. those who know me can fully confirm the fact that i am a sugar addict and i have no shame in admitting it. growing up in beautiful nova scotia canada, my lunch money was spent at the local candy store, and even now, i find it hard to walk past a candy isle or a candy store and not make a purchase...or seven. and i wish i was kidding. it's a problem. my worst fear in life is diabetes. due to the fact that my ABSOLUTE favorite candy store, powells in la jolla california recently went out of business (there may or may not have been tears from my eyeballs...) i will have to go with the next best, and lucky for all of you sugar obsessed humans out there, a not so local shop...the sweet factory, located in nearly every large mall.


first off, the displays alone are enough to bring pure joy into ones life.


i tend to migrate toward the red candy first...always have. always will.


intead of saying "sweet!" (as in "awesome!") sweet husband will often say "swedish fish!" and instead of thinking he's cute or clever, i just crave the candy. swedish fish are always top on my list.


gummi strawberries are another must.


along with sour cherry coke bottles.


sometimes, i like to sample the goods...

kidding, kidding....i totally don't do that...okay, i USUALLY don't do that.

once it appears that my bag of joy will satisfy my needs, it has to be weighed and payed for. my stash usually runs anywhere from five to seven dollars. american.


the stash...


contents include: (continued from candy already mentioned above...) gummi worms, sour gummy bears, fuzzy peaches and sour watermelon slices.

oh, lets not forget that delightful lollipop, and let me tell you...that lollipop made me giddy. i'm serious. i really felt like a kid in a candy store. i just wanted to skip around with my lollipop in one hand and balloons in the other...

and so i bought balloons.


then off to my favorite spot to devour my sweet factory goodness...

the beach.

the sun goes straight to my head. candy makes me crazy.


naturally, sweet emmerson showed some interest, and i loved being able to capture her first taste of candy.

notice the candy on her shirt? we didn't even plan that...

...yeah okay, we totally planned it, but so perfect, right?

a little sour, but i think she fell in love.


...so in love that she stole a lick of my lollipop...little stinker.


this is my sweet life.




they say you are what you eat, and if that makes us sweet, i'm okay with that.





Enter Kristi


----

And thus the reason to which Nikki did NOT jump on the KRYPTONITE bandwagon. 


Oh how I remember your love of candy my Cali friend.  Nikki and I go back quite a ways and she up and moved to my dreamland California and frankly it's a wee rude of her to do that.  JOKES!  She is the cutest and one of the funniest girls you'll meet.


Thanks Nikki for the trip to the candy store. {And the temptation ;)}  The sunset and warmth of the California air is making me swoon!  AND we can for sure know that cute Emmerson definitely takes after her Mama in the candy department.


You must all go read her blog.  She has the funniest stories and she may or may not (meaning she does) have a photo of her biting her hubby's head off.  You'll have to go look HERE to see.  I still laugh out load about that one! 


Thanks again friend.  Wanna tradesie?  You come here to the snow and I lap it up at the beach?  

That's what friends are for right?


If you're interested in doing a PEEK just send me an email and stuff!  I'm taking bookings for May.

There's not much I do..

So I often have many things I want to share.  Sometimes they are long winded so I end up not sharing because I know we don't always have time for long winded posts....especially me babbling away. (Or do you like my random "writes too much" posts??)

I'm not really that crafty.

I'm just getting back into all things artsy.

I can only cook enough so we don't starve.

I can't teach you much about photography.  I shoot in manual and wing it in photoshop.

What I'm sayin' is I've got nothing to sell here.

I just like to write about anything and nothing.


So that's sorta what I want to know.

What do you want to see?

What do you want to hear about?

Is it random thoughts, about being a Mom, about all my many issues??

Or is it all of it?

What do you want me to blog about more?


I know I don't get to blog as often as my ideas come.  That's what happens when you work opposite hot husband, have a cute kid and have an energy level of minus 110.  But that will come.  And for now I'm trying to figure out a way to keep all my ideas organized.  But that's random thoughts that just need to be written out for my own sake.

I posed a question not too long asking if anyone has any questions.  And not many asked (not that I thought many would...I'm sorta an open book) but I got a few responses and I have some emails so I'll eventually get to answering those for you.

But what I really want to know is.....what do you love about blogs and why do you come back here?

Keeping in mind...I really have nothing to sell.  I'm not a good sales person.  And I'm really not talented in that department.

I think those out there who aren't bloggers are going to roll their eyes at me for such a lame post but if you are a blogger you probably get it.  You want to know what drives people to your blog.  And you love visitors.

So help me out and don't just X out!

(it's okay...roll your eyes!)

Until then here's on my to do list:

-clean my whole house with hot husband.

-family snowmobile ride.
-make a snow angel and perhaps throw a snowball at my two boys.

-art journalling.

-watch an episode of The Secret Life of The American Teenager.

-watch more HEROES with the hotty hubby. (Whilst doing more art journalling)
-order more supplies for journals and email Mom shopping list for stuff I need.

-blog about homemade skin care

-finish up Monday's PEEK (it's a yummy one)

-get KRYPTONITERS photos on my blog.

-email people back

-paint toe nails

-bonfire with friends

-keep getting at least 5000 steps in a day.


PS-I don't wear glasses.  I mean...don't most people have random shots of them with laptops and glasses or even re-enacting the bachelorette with a rose?? 

Winner...

And Quatchi goes to....


Congratulations!!  Please contact me at myvisiblevoice at hotmail dot com within the next 48 hours to collect your winnings.

And thanks again Claudine for this giveaway and for giving us a PEEK inside the Olympics!

----

I hope to blog to you more later today.  I was having a phone date with my Mama last night so I dropped all things internet :)  It's just nice to do that once in awhile.

PS-If you need a pep talk just call my Mom...she'll do one up nice for ya!

VPIKE

If you haven't already...

Check out www.vpike.com


HOLY CRAP it's awesome!

You type in your address (or old one or anyone) and it will show you your house!  Like holy cow fun!  It felt like I was driving up and down my old street in Morris.  Sooooooo fun!!!

Here's my old house.

(Sabrina - I could see "Norris Park")

Check it out!!!



Look I can't blog right now!

I'm going to look up every single address I know!!!

BYE4NOW!

I have issues...

My palms were sweaty.


I had butterflies.

I'd been waiting for this moment for what seem liked soooo long.

I sat quietly awaiting the outcome.

I had to give myself a few pep talks along the way...

Reminding myself that this isn't my life...I'm just a bystander.

And then he did it.

He picked the wrong girl.


To say that I'm heartbroken would be an understatement (or an exaggeration).

And I may or may not have had a little tear for the other poor girl.

Darn you JAKE!

And thus concludes what happens when you love TV too much and you should have done something more useful and inspiring like work on my first Art Journal assignment.

----

In other news we're on day two of quitting sweets and treats.

And this is how I feel....


Headaches...tired...and hungry.

Does anyone else feel like they are starving all the time when they eat healthy???  I mean I always mostly eat healthy but I need the sweets or treats or whatever to finally fill me up after a whole day of eating healthy.

It's so bizaar.

Just to recap me and a growing group of others are quitting sweets, treats and desserts.  So brownies, cakes, cookies, chocolate, candy etc...

It just Had. To. Be. Done. in my life.  Had to be done.

I plan to post officially what we're doing but am waiting on some photos of my participants AND I'm trying to find a counter.

Does anyone know where I can find one that won't increase this headache of mine????

I had a fight with my lover computer yesterday morning because I couldn't find a counter that just counts days up and we didn't talk all day because of it.

Off to get my act together.

And stop thinking about how The Bachelor picked the wrong girl.

Write to ya later!

PS-those photos of me are uber old and no my skin does not look that good anymore.  And yes I miss my long hair.  THERE I said it out loud.  OKBYE!

PEEK with Claudine - Olympic STYLE!

An early PEEK for our last day of Olympics!

----

Hey.

My name is Claudine.

This...is me!


I've known Kristi since July 2003 when she was sporting shorter hair and the same wild personality she has now. Good times at church dances...good times.


Ok. Why am I here? What could I POSSIBLY have in my world that is PEEK worthy? Two words peeps.


O L Y M P I C S 2010!!


That's right. This AB grown chick is living it up Gold Medal style in Vancouver.

“YOU GOTTA BE HERE!”


Ha. I always wanted to put that in a sentence somewhere.



So this is going to be a glance in the life of Claudine during the Olympics so be prepared for a LOT of not awesome photos but some wonderful kid friendly photos.


Let's begin the show!


First up is the lights at English Bay.

English Bay is the beach 5 minutes from my complex. During the Olympics there is an art exhibit which entails 16 spotlights located on either side of the water. From dusk till dawn the lights create different patterns in the sky and are just amazingly beautiful to watch.

I think this pictures sums it up nicely. My friend Chad Riley was the photographer for this one. He's got an amazing eye for beauty and detail.


Onward we go! Meet the crowds!

The streets are FILLED with people sporting their countries flags and singing their countries songs. It's an amazing experience just to walk around. The Olympic Spirit and the joviality surrounding Vancouver is extremely contagious. What's not so fun though is the Olympic Spirit at 11:00pm at night. Blow horns and “woo hoo”-ING when one is trying to sleep is not particularly conducive to ones sleep cycle.

But I digress. Downtown Vancouver is simply bustling and the buildings got in on the action too!

Look at this building sporting the Canadian Flag...simply amazing!


On Granville Street, you can pose on the podium, or get balloon animals or hats or just simply watch the street performers. It's simply invigorating just being down there. I loved every moment being surrounded by all these people!


Here is Robson Square at 1pm in the afternoon.

Why is it so packed? It's the MASCOT show!! Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi come out in all their glory and skate a cute little program for the kids! Trust me when I say that as much as us adults are reacting to the Olympics and the events, the kids are just as rambunctious when it comes to meeting their favourite mascots!!

Here's Quatchi saying “hi”


And Miga showing offer skating skills


And Sumi (the official mascot for the Paralympics)


After the show Declan and I were excited to be able to participate in the skating that is available solely during the Olympics. This building has been in renovations for 2 years and was just reopened specifically for the this. Declan had a blast and I can still skate backwards! Take that 31 yr old body!

One more awesome thing about Robson Square? The Zip line!




You can zip across the venue like they do in the rainforests! And it's FREE!!! I didn't do it..but I THINK you can see some people getting some zip line action in these photos.


LiveCity Yaletown is amazing for their concerts and the Coke building. We didn't go into the building because the line up was amazing. Just to get collector bottles for a drink I don't like? I DON'T THINK SO!!

But the venue is amazing. The performers get to be on stage but luckily there are these two AMAZING big screens where you can see all the action!

There's also a dog sled with real live Huskies! SOOO cute! The line ups I gotta say are really crazy though. But thankfully there are performers outside to spice things up for the kids!


Now we get to the event that we were lucky enough to get tickets for. Women's Curling!! How amazing was this experience!!!

Here's the outside of the Vancouver Olympic Centre going towards the entrance.


And here's Declan posing in front of the entrance. He's such a cutie!


Inside I had no idea we'd be so close to the ice!


We could see everything and Canada was in the 2nd lane so I got some really great pictures!








Every night from 10:30pm to 11pm fireworks are blasted off to a show of all our Olympic winners. Gold, Silver and Bronze. Have I mentioned that we are now 3rd in the medal standing with 13 Golds??? Yeah that's right! From 5th to 3rd in a matter of days! Now THAT'S what Canada is made of! I don't have any pictures from the fireworks, but just know that the streets are fully crowded and the celebrations go all night after!


But here's the pictures you all have been waiting for. The Olympic Cauldron. This is the first Olympic Cauldron that was lit from 3 different people and to me is one of the most beautiful Olympic flames I've ever seen! Take a look for yourselves!

Daytime:


Nighttime:


Nighttime is my personal favourite.


There's has been so much to see and so much to do and thankfully we've been able to participate in a lot of it. This has truly been the most amazing thing I've been able to participate in in my short life so far.

I hope you've enjoyed just taking a PEEK into Olympic life in Vancouver!

One last thing to say...EH! OH! GO CANADA GO!!!!


-----

Enter Kristi...


Thanks friend! It was awesome to see on the inside and see the people just out there supporting their countries! Loves!


Oh and by the way - Canada's mens hockey won GOLD! I'm sure y'all know that but I NEVER watch sports and I was super happy to watch that. Crap...did I say I liked watching sports out load.


JACOB - EDWARD - BELLA - WHERE ARE YOU????


Phew...I'm still a geek.


Anyway Claudine has a little gift for one of you!



QUATCHI!!!!


Yes she's giving our cutest little mascot away to one lucky reader.


So just leave a comment and tell me if you think I was ridiculous to consume an insane amount of chocolate this weekend until I'm literally seeing double. Okay not really. And no that has nothing to do with Quatchi but I feel a little bloated like Quatchi so...that's how I roll.


Addional Entries:


1-for being a blog follower (right over there clicky click on the follow button)
1-for being a follower of Claudine's blog.
1-Follow me on Twitter.
1-Follow Claudine on Twitter.

Remember one comment for each entry.  Don't double up-sie okay!  


Thanks again Claudine for taking us on your Olympics adventure!  I think my cute kid wants to play with your cute kid!


This giveaway closes this Wednesday (3rd) at Midnight.  I'll announce the winner sometime on Thursday.